Healthcare material supply chain

The healthcare delivery network comprises two distinct supply chains service supply chain and material supply chain. Service supply chain includes healthcare services such as admissions, diagnosis, lab test, surgery, treatment, and recuperation. Material supply chain involves procurement, storage, and deployment of healthcare products - pharmaceuticals, sensors, wearable devices, test equipment, and communication devices. As shown in Fig. 10.2, the materials supply chain includes all the entities, except the employers and the service supply chain excludes drug manufacturers, device manufacturers, and retailers. 

Next, we discuss the healthcare drivers shown in Figs. 10.3 and 10.4, both external and internal (as outlined in Chap. 1). In what follows, we include both the service and material supply chains in the discussion of drivers, and delineate them when we discuss delivery network capabilities. 

It should be apparent that the external and internal drivers are predicated upon a specific set of capabilities in the healthcare delivery network. In Fig. 10.5, we show these capabilities for both the service and material supply chains, using the framework developed in Chap. 1. The cluster of capabilities, labeled demand management refers to external drivers, whereas the other four clusters labeled fund management , provider management , operations and supply chain , and E-healthcare , are relate to internal drivers. 

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